If it gets driven, it’s a car…
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Agreed. Otherwise it’s just an ornament. If I was in the market for a similarly pristine restoration I’d be asking to see the list of mechanical parts fitted - particularly the suspension parts and internal engine parts. One recent seller of a similarly pristine example on BaT provided invoices for all the parts used, and had fitted the cheapest parts in each of these categories - eg the $4 suspension bushings that have been reported to fail in the first year of use. Fine for rolling on and off a trailer, but no good if the car is going to be driven.
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Excellent points, @davidxk.
Maybe the seller offers a warranty that we don’t know about…?
It would seem to be a true waste of time, effort and expense to construct something this incredibly detailed that wouldn’t move 100 miles down the road without a breakdown. If that was the case, I think the seller/restorer would have been singled out and excoriated by now for his past offerings.
But…who knows?
Harvey,
You could add 1E 14598 to that list. January 21
That would be a Series 1.25 with open headlights.
The list is reprinted from the JCNA Authenticity Guide. The principle author was Bob Stevenson, who probably lurks here from time to time. It was last revised in 2013. I don’t think we need to start a discussion regarding how Jaguar handled changes in their cars. I’d say it was a bit haphazard, for lack of a better word, but I’m sure it made sense to them at the time, with the pressures of keeping an assembly line moving at all costs.
BTW, I have spoken to Bob several times about the Guide. Even after all these years, he deserves kudos for the effort he made back in the day to pull the Guide together. It has been invaluable to me and I am sure to many others.
I wonder about that (builders of beautifully finished cars using the cheapest parts for invisible items, or parts with good cosmetics and low functionality\durability.)
Take the notorious brake bottle saga, something that’s been with the E-type community for at least a decade and a half if not longer. The cheap reproduction bottles barely last a few hundred miles in many if not most cases, yet they keep getting sold.
And even the most reputable vendors know it, and most offer a quality alternative (at a higher price.) But they still have a steady market. That suggests a lot of purchasers are putting them on but not putting them to the test by using the cars much. And so, they’re happy with the product, and the vendors keep selling them because enough people are satisfied with them and demand them.
Dave
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Excellent points, excellently made.
This article offers an interesting take on BaT and prices seen there (vs elsewhere):
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Whoa, beautiful car!
Note the cutoff for closed headlamps was January 11th, 1967 at car 1E14534 in the US. Your car being 1E14598 with a build date of 1/21/67 clearly shows this to be a Series 1.25 with open headlamps, if it’s a US car. So, having closed headlamps, a couple of possibilities come to mind:
- If you’ve owned it since near new and it’s a US car, you have an anomaly, but it’s possible.
- If it was imported from another country it would be correct with closed headlamps.
- If it’s a restoration, the person/company restoring your car retrofitted it with covered headlamps, a common occurrence, and very much OK in my book!
Note also that in mid 1966, sun visors were added, so it appears at some point, these were removed from your 1967 car.
As you suggest, this car is intended to be a trailer queen. Any drive of 100 miles or more will likely result in every nook and cranny requiring cleaning and some touch-up paint. Heaven forbid it travel dusty roads or encounter rain. But it sure is pretty right now.
–Drew
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It’s not worth having.
IMHO.
Depends on one’s priorities.
I think the prospective new owner is one with unlimited funds and will drive the living crap out of this worthwhile, driveable beast. I don’t think he gives a rip about any dirt or dulling of the bling. He’ll just like flaunting the bling anywhere and everywhere. I think that’s who a car like this was restored for.
I don’t know Bob as he came well past my involvement, but Stew Cleave, ex of the Jaguar Owners Club of Portland, who succeeded my earlier tenure as concours chairman, was instrumental in the Series 1 judging guide enhancements through the late 90s. There have been many, many contributors over many many years in JCNA whose names have not been recorded. The judging guide goes through a rigorous process before changes are instituted.
Guys, this car as lovely as it looks will go for HALF the restoration value.
Its where the market is going.
Look today at the Jags alone on BAT 10/13/21.
Etype series 2 convert , nice shape 37 grand with less than a day.
Mark 2 16 grand less than a day
xjs one oner convertable 6 grand.
A gtjoey clone 66 primrose coupe, 56 grand ish?
Drive your cars my friends…looking for a retirement check when your ready to sell, its all over.
This car is at 125 with 2 days, Even if it shills to 275, which I really doubt , The seller lost at least 75 grand , at least , The restoration was last/this year.
I agree with most, drive it and enjoy it.
AFTER US Its value will be nill.
gtjoey
Joey, I am not agreeing or disagreeing with your financial outlook. I do agree, drive them. But it seems that there are those who do seem to restore the cars just for the purpose of selling. It sounds like this seller may be one of those. If so, are they too dumb to know they are losing money???
Tom
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No , He is getting trapped in the down fall.
If true
He bought the car a year ago ……Right?
Then stripped it down completely right?
Restored it all including interior ….right?
Let’s say he found it in a garage for 60 grand?
You are 300 grand in the car.
He totally restored the car in 12 months
I think some guys thought the covid I’m going to die spend money was going on forever
Hershey results were down 30 percent on average sales
Mecum sold cars but at a much lower sale
It’s just where it’s headed
Right? I certainly do not know. But per what you are saying, he has 300K invested. I do not know how anyone, even back then, could confidently predict this car would sell a year later at 350-400K for him to make a decent profit. I think a prediction of 250-275 would have been doable, but certainly not a sure thing. And, per you, that would have been a loss.
Tom
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